2014 – Parts Canada Canadian Grand Nationals – Walton, Ontario

Thursday, August 14th

Well with racing going on so close by it was obvious what was required of me on this lovely fall…..whoops, sorry summer day.  I know I went to bed late in the evening of August 13th but I thought for a moment I woke up in mid September. Please, someone explain how this damn global warming thing works again.

I headed out the door about 0900hrs and thought I would begin my day at Walton with an ever so tiny detour to Brussels where I would drop in on GO Video Motorsports just up the road before hitting the races. I have been following GO Video and its owner Glen Orth on Facebook for a while now and outside of a brief meeting at a very busy motorcycle show in Toronto I had yet to officially meet him.

The detour to Brussels became more literal when I arrived to find the main street Hwy12 closed. I would learn later that much to the consternation of the residence the entire main street has been under repair for some time and it has been a bit of a kick in the nether regions to the business community.

As luck would have it as I was sitting in front of the store entering the contact phone number from the sign to my phone when I spotted a chap up the block talking with someone just outside the under construction drug store and I said to myself ( I knew it was me cause I recognized the voice),  geez that could be Glen. And…… along came Glen.

I introduced myself and I think he recognized my name as a random social media friend from Facebook. We had a great chat and he gave me a bit of a run down on the business situ in downtown Brussels.

This is an interesting old building. Research showed it was originally owned by a bank. Built in the late 1800’s. Presently being renovated as restaurant “Jam Jar Eatery” which should be opening within a couple months.

With Canadian Breed Custom Electrics basically next door, I’d say there is some future potential for some cool spur of the moment guests.

 

I know there was an interesting story relating to the origins of this name as well but more on that once my memory reboots.

I can see the potential here for a real neat vib. Live music nights will be part of the theme here should prove very interesting.

Just a couple doors south of the Jam Jar, Glen introduced me to Bill Scheltema of Canadian Breed Custom Electrics. This is a very cool spot. I have tremendous respect for musicians and when one of them also happens to be so gifted he makes the instruments that allow others to channel their creative ability, that is just plain outstanding.

Given my own deep love of music spanning a wide range genres (I say eclectic, my musician friends say confused) I find myself at times a little frustrated that my own musical ability begins and ends with being able to spell….. well….. musical ability…….that and perhaps skillfully downloading from iTunes. If you are a musician in the London area, especially if you are a guitarist, there is no good excuse for not popping up to Brussels (less than an hour) and dropping in on Bill. Maybe you’ll leave having ordered your own CBCE.

While talking to Bill and snapping some photos of the shop in walked another chap, Tom Kim. Tom is a photographer and it doesn’t take a keen observer to clearly see with a quick look at his Facebook page he’s done some skoolin in this area, very nice portrait work. Clearly a talented young man.

Leaving the nice folks of Brussels behind me I made my way the 9 klicks back to Walton. The Walton Racetrack playing host to “Another national championship season – one of the most dramatic and volatile in years – is drawing to a close with the traditional final showdown at Walton Raceway in Walton, ON, a venue that has been on the CMRC Nationals schedule since 1992.” (waltontranscan.ca). 

The event commenced on August 12th and is a flurry of racing activity culminating with the Pros wrapping up their season on Sunday.

Lots to do here for the younger ones if they’re just not that engaged in the MX racing going on ……or perhaps they are over saturated with it. Maybe this is what the young MX’ers do between races.

 

And the of course there is the racing…..

I caught several amateur races and this is just a smattering of random shots I took. Very talented young riders. Certainly a pro or two of tomorrow right in this group.

 

 

The 50cc bikes were entertaining. Lots of mud and ruts from the bigger machines made navigating around the somewhat reduce circuit interesting for these half pint riders. I use that term carefully because despite their physical size they gutted it out over some tiff terrain.  Outstanding effort by all.

Looking forward to returning Sunday to catch some of the pro action.

More pictures on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MotoCanuck?ref=br_tf

Sunday, August 17th – MX Pro Finals

A foggy 0730hrs start

I have been saying for some time now that I need a co-pilot on some of my trips. After much careful deliberation over who might best fill this important role it was decided that the most kick ass zombie killer around should get the job. So from time to time Daryl will surface for obvious reasons……

To say it was a tad mucky to start would have been an understatement.

MX bike down, bike down….oh the humanity!

I took over 900 shots today. This will take a while to weed through but for now…